Thursday, 24 April 2008

A very rare piece of wood finds a home

I will admit it - I am quite spoiled with some of the infill wood I have. Rosewood tops that list - but a while ago, I ran into a piece that stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a small section of burl. There was not much, and I had to really work to get enough for an XSNo.4.

And even after it was roughed out- I was not 100% sure I had captured enough of it. About a month ago, I started the plane. As I was working away I realized this piece was spectacular.

What sometimes happens is the figure and curl of the wood disappears as you cut it down and fit it to the metal shell. This piece was the reverse. With every cut - the infill kept getting better and better. There was a great light patch of wood on the rear infill that I really wanted to keep. I cheated the rear infill as far to the right as I could to capture as much of that patch as possible. You can see the patch in the photo below.

The front bun was equally spectacular - despite its small size.

This piece of burl was a very rare find. I cannot promise to find another one like this - but there are a few other large pieces that look promising. I just feel lucky to have found this piece.

Konrad is being modest about the performance of this little plane. It carries the strength and power of a bench plane on a small frame. The right size for small work or details like marquetry. Puts your hands right over the work, and the feedback is coming up into your hands all the time. With or against grain. One hand or two. It'll be a most-used tool!